Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) – part 1

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a procedure executed in operations management for analyzing the potential failure modes within a specific system and their severity, or determining the effect of such failures on the system (Effects Analysis). Failure modes are the errors or defects – actual or potential – that occur in a design, process, or an item which affect the customers. Using FMEA, you can also analyze how to detect these errors, and their frequency. FMEA also documents actions taken with regard to failure risks, enabling continuous improvement. FMEA is ideally used during the process design stage and continues throughout the product cycle.

FMEA is aimed to take remedial actions to reduce or eliminate failures according to priority, and is also used for evaluation of risk management priorities. In case there are possible failures in a design, then an engineer can think of alternate ways to develop the product. These actions will ensure the product meets the set standards. FMEA has a simple tool for prioritizing the risks. It is employed in many quality systems like ISO/TS 16949, QS-9000, etc.

The process of FMEA is categorized into three phases with definition of actions for each. First, you have to do some pre-work, so that the FMEA analysis includes past history and robustness. You can use boundary diagrams, parameter diagrams, and interface matrices for obtaining the robustness analysis. The causes of many failures are shared interfaces with other parts/systems, and noise factors.

FMEA begins with describing the system and its function. The engineer has to consider both intentional and unintentional uses of the system. FMEA always includes a block diagram, so the next step is to create one, which outlines the process steps, called logical relations. FMEA can be developed around them. A coding system for identifying different system elements can also be created.

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